The Summer of Secrets

by Martina Reilly

[Leah]

I’m a huge huge fan of Martina Reilly and have read the majority of her novels, thoroughly enjoying every one. The Summer of Secrets is one of the few I haven’t read and I bought it a few years back and it’s sat on my shelf since. But after reading a brilliant review of the novel, it spurred me on to pick it up as I was floundering about what to read next. I’m so pleased I did listen to the reviewer and read the novel, because it was just as wonderful as Martina’s other novels!

The Summer of Secrets is quite a clever novel. Whereas her newest book A Moment Like Forever waited until the end for the big reveal, the events that change Hope’s life in The Summer of Secrets actually occur at the beginning of the book. I’m not going to mention what happens to force Hope to cancel her trip abroad as it’s surprising when what occurs, occurs. I wasn’t expecting it, let’s put it that way and it was definitely a fast-paced start to the book and it allows for Martina to explore the after-effects of such a tragedy. In her Acknowledgements Martina thanks someone for telling her all about PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder) and that gave me a clue about what the book itself would be about.

The PTSD is definitely a large part of the novel and I think Martina has researched it well and presented it very realistically, although it has to be said I’m no expert on the matter. But I found it to be realistic, and I felt for Hope going through it as she did. The beginning of the novel is set in London, but after the tragic incident, Hope’s best friends Adam and Julie take Hope to a cottage in Dunport where Hope grew up and that’s where the bulk of the novel is set. I could very easily picture the quaint little cottage the three friends stayed at with the magnificent view and mountains everywhere. It was very well described and it sounds like a wonderful place. Obviously going home, for Hope, isn’t what she wants but it’s the best place for her to recuperate and to possibly come to terms with not only the recent tragedy but also the past.

I loved the characters in the novel. Hope is the kind of character you can root for. Yes she has a sad history, but she doesn’t play on that for your sympathy. She’s tough and she’s direct and I really warmed to her. Julie and Adam, her two best friends were also amazing and it seemed a matter of time before they got together, I kept hoping they’d spill their guts to each other but it looked as though it was never going to happen! My favourite character, though, was the spiky Logan (“Are you really called Logan?” Hope asks when he tells her his name!). He and Hope sparked off each other really well and their banter was amazing to watch. It was like a tennis match, back and forth, back and forth. It wasn’t a very large cast, we also meet Tim Hope’s counsellor along with her mother, but it was a well-rounded cast, full of great characters.

I loved The Summer of Secrets from the first page until the last. Martina Reilly is brilliant at taking a difficult issue and making it into a must-read novel. She has quite a deft touch when it comes to turning thorny subjects into something everyday folk like myself can relate to. She’s an exceptional writer, there’s no doubt about it. Time after time, book after book, she manages to keep me hooked until I read the last page and I can’t get enough of her stories. The ending almost had me in tears, it was the moment I’d waited for since the beginning when it all happened and for it to come full circle was pretty amazing. I mean not only is the book about such a difficult thing as PTSD but it also keeps the humour. I was laughing from page one, and even after everything that happened it did still make me laugh. That, for me, is the hallmark of a good novel. To keep the humour and warmth despite the relatively gloomy topic takes a lot and Martina does that with every novel. I hugely recommend this book.